Recovering air ambulance costs in personal injury claims

At a time when COVID-19 has had a significant impact on air ambulance charities’ revenues, a new initiative is underway to help them recover their costs from defendants in personal injury claims.

Backed by barristers from One Crown Office Row Chambers, the initiative involves working with air ambulance charities to establish the cost of their flying missions so that it can become a standard legal practice for claimant personal injury lawyers to include air ambulance costs as part of settlements.

Air ambulances operate as registered charities and rely entirely on generous donations from the public to meet each of their missions’ high costs.

Fundraising in any typical year to meet these operational costs is difficult at the best of times, but the pandemic has made it even more challenging during the last 12 months.

Novum Law’s serious personal injury team welcomes the proposed changes as a positive development for air ambulance charities.

Wiltshire Air Ambulance alone needs £10,000 every day to keep flying and provide its life-saving work – equating to £3.75 million per year. It is not funded directly by the Government and receives no National Lottery grants.

Steps to introduce air ambulance costs as a recognisable and commonplace head of loss in personal injury compensation claims, opens up another way for air ambulance charities to meet their high, ongoing costs and will complement the fantastic fundraising work by generous supporters and members of the public.

For more information about Wiltshire Air Ambulance go to www.wiltshireairambulance.co.uk.